Artist and community advocate EastSide K-Boy & PVJOBS/Re-entry Network, in collaboration with Phee-Nomenal-Women invite the public to their inaugural “Toys 4 Us” Toy Drive on Sunday Sunday, December 22, 2024, from 12 to 3 PM at PVJOBS headquarters, located at 4112 S. Main Street, in the heart of the East South Central Los Angeles neighborhood.
The Sims Library of Poetry hosted its Words Worth Saving Fundraising Kick-Off Gala, bringing the community together to celebrate its role as a cultural hub while raising critical funds to secure its future as a permanent sanctuary for poetry in South Los Angeles.
“I think Mr. Gascón has taken us a little too far to one side, and we’ve lost our ability to hold people accountable. If we can’t hold people accountable, we can’t rehabilitate. We can’t correct behavior. We can’t make people who are actually victims of crime feel that they’ve received some sense of justice, so that’s really what’s driving me,” said deputy district attorney John Mckinney, who is running for Los Angeles District Attorney.
Co-Founders Osh and Samantha Smith started The Dreamers Foundation in 2015 as a small workshop. Throughout the years, they transitioned their workshop over to Vector 90, a collaborative workspace created by David Gross and the late Nipsey Hussle. Co-Founder Smith said it is essential to know the power Black people have. She stated, “We need to know that we have power as Black people, and this is the year we take our power back. We have to use our voices.” Smith states it is ok to go out and march, but wants people to vote and make real changes in the community to see results.
Paul Williams, aka Lil Doc, was arrested by the Federal Government two days after ending a 45-year dispute between two tribes. Crawford said he does not know what to do because he is frustrated when they are trying to help cultivate and get the “O.G.’s” to start having peace movements it seems like the police arrest them. “Doc, who is a huge part of this movement which has in his way, has made sure these tribes come together and make sure they have peace, got picked up on some things that allegedly happened way back. I’m not here to talk about whether he is guilty or innocent. I’m here to talk about Paul Wallace that I know is passionate about what’s been going on in these streets, and so are a lot of these leaders here. Who are we to tell them that whenever they crossover to do the right thing, they will be picked up over things that happened years ago. It would make them say I don’t want to change.”
In memory of Mitchell’s late Mother, the founder of M.I.A., Brenda Marsh-Mitchell, they distribute their first 100 backpacks each year for the last 6 years to First AME Church for their foster care youth in honor of her passing and life of service.. “My Mother was the founder of Mother’s In Action, and she understood that children fail because they can’t hear, they can’t see, and don’t have the resources to have a successful school year. So she started this thing 22 years ago, said President Mitchell.”